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Bear Proof Suit Put To The Test
from the some-people-have-issues dept
Okay. So, he's already won an Ig Nobel award, but now it looks like the creator of the $100,000 bear-proof suit is looking to get a Darwin Award as well. He's decided it's time to test it on a real, attacking bear. It's already been tested against trucks, baseball bats, axes, arrows and bullets. However, the suit was designed to be bear proof - so it might as well be tested against a bear. The guy sounds a little nervous: "Little things like trucks and baseball bats and axes and things - you don't feel that. This is a bear." The suit, by the way, is made of plastic, rubber, chainmail, galvanised steel, titanium - and lots and lots of duct tape (proving that it really is duct tape that binds the world together).
Reader Comments
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Troy Hurtubise
There was an article in the paper about Troy Hurtubise when he accepted his Ig Nobel (I think it was about two years ago). At the time they mentioned that he had tried to test it against an actual bear in the wild but the problem was that it seemed the bears got scared off by the fact that the suit makes you about eight feet tall and 5 feet wide. On another note it's too bad this guy gets laughed at so much. The whole thing sounds crazy but you've got to respect a guy who's spent so much effort trying to develop a dream (as bizzar as it may be) while everyone else laughs at you. Not many people have that kind of dedication.
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Re: Troy Hurtubise
I also seem to recall that one of the reasons this guy took a long time to get around to testing it with real bears is that he is deathly afraid of them... can anyone confirm this or is my mind playing tricks on me again?
msykes
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Re: Troy Hurtubise
From what I saw on his website:
http://www.nfb.ca/grizzly/troy.html
"Troy is a conservationist, bear behavioural specialist and parks and forest recreation technologist. He has conducted his own brand of maverick close--quarter bear research for more than seven years."
Doesn't sound like he's deathly afraid of bears to me...sounds like he knows intimately, and totally respects the destructive power a bear can possess.
I had read an article somewhere a long while back that some bomb squads are investigating his design because its very maneuverable while being extremely protective.
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No Subject Given
This may seem dumb but I guarantee you this will evolve into a very beneficial piece of equiptment for fire fighters, law enforcement and military.
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